February 24, 2012

Red Bell Pepper Chutney

I kept hearing about this chutney from the ladies from various places we lived. I tried once but it came out sweet. My trips to the Indian store kept postponing and had to go to Winco Foods for my veggies.

A couple of weeks back, I see this nice fresh Red Pepper and thought, "Okay, let me try it today" and got just 2. Came home and prepared the chutney for Ragi Dosa. We had an unexpected visitor who we asked to stay for supper along with my colleagues Ranjith and Vinod. Unexpectedly, the chutney came out sooo good and they made a clean sweep of it..I think they would have eaten if there was more.

Ingredients:

Big Red Bell Peppers - 3 (Cut into 1 inch cubes)

Tomatoes - 4 (Dice into medium size pieces)

Garlic cloves - 2

Green Chillies - 10 (less for a less spicy version)

Oil - 4 tsp

Tamarind Pulp - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Coriander 1/2 bunch - (Do not cook with the other ingredients)

Heat oil in a pan. Add all the above ingredients and cover with a lid. cook on low to medium heat. Add salt after 5-10 mins and keep stirring occasionally. The tomatoes and peppers should come together like a mushy paste. The water that oozes out of the tomatoes should be dry. Let it cool.

Then put this in a blender and blend it in two quick bursts. Make sure not to make the chutney into a fine smooth paste. It should remain crunchy. At the end, wash and grind the coriander and add it to the ground chutney. It taste just yummm with hot dosas.

A tiny bit of note here is, however spicy you want it to turn, you'll still feel a tinge of sweet and sour taste.